A sign warns passing motorists about exotic
animals on the loose from a wildlife preserve 19 October in Zanesville, Ohio. Muskingum County Animal Farm owner Terry Thompson was found dead Tuesday evening after deputies received calls reporting wild animals on the loose west of Zanesville. The preserve kept exotic animals such as lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, bears, giraffes and camels. Authorities said that approximately 30 of the 48 animals from the farm were shot and killed as a team of more than 50 officials pattrolled the area tuesday night

Lesser flamingoes at Lake Natron at the foot of Ol Doinyo Lengai. Salmon-coloured clouds of flamingoes sweeping overhead is a common sight at east Africa's Rift Valley lakes, but the mounds of mud where they lay their eggs are found only here. The caustic waters of Lake Natron form the only breeding ground for east Africa's endangered lesser flamingoes

A flock of common cranes flying over the
puszta or Hungarian steppe of Hortobagy, the largest gathering place for migrating cranes in Europe. Experts counted over 90,000 cranes living in the quiet areas of Hortobagy where they usually stay till the first frosts before leaving for Africa through Sicily

A red deer stag stands in the early morning mist in Richmond Park on 15 October 2011 in London, England. Autumn sees the start of the rutting season where the large red deer stags can be heard roaring and barking in an attempt to attract females known as hinds. The larger males can also be seen clashing antlers with rival males

Taken by the winner of the
Veolia Envionnement Young Wildlife Photographer of the year, Mateusz Piesiak. Mateusz wrapped his camera in a waterproof sack, dropped onto his belly and began to crawl along the wet sand. His aim was to get close to a small group of American oystercatchers on a beach on Long Island, New York. The birds were so absorbed in their foraging that they ignored him, sometimes scuttling almost to within arm's length in their search for shellfish

The maiden pink flower, which was chosen as flower of the year by the German Loki Schmidt Foundation, with the aim of drawing attention to the endangered plant as well as its endangered habitat, heath areas, dry grasslands, meadows, and also waysides of infertile, dry soils

A flock of birds fly near the Drum Tower, located on the central axis of the Forbidden City, as the city is shrouded in haze in Beijing, China.
Thick smog lays over central Beijing as heavy air pollution continues to afflict China's capital with PM2.5 particulate matter rating of 302 or an AQI (Air Quality Index) level of 352 'dangerous'. Environmental agencies in some countries issue health warnings of emergency conditions at this level indicating the entire population is more likely to be affected but in China little mention is made of such hazards in official media

The ranger Christian Shamavu from Virunga national park
rescued a poached baby Grauer's gorilla in an undercover operation where he and his ranger team posed as buyers for the gorilla, arresting three men after they handed over the infant. The gorilla will stay at an enclosure at park headquarter in Rumangabo for a 30-day quarrantine period before moving to the Grace facility west of Butembo. The baby will be named Shamavu after the ranger who rescued her

Spiders sit in plastic bags at the Zurich airport. Swiss customs officials say they intercepted a man at Zurich airport carrying hundreds of endangered spiders in his luggage. Customs officials found 261 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas packed into individual plastic bags inside six boxes belonging to a Swiss man arriving from the Dominican Republic in August. Officials said that the shipment was destined for an unidentified Swiss dealer. A search of the dealer's home uncovered 665 further tarantulas and 72 giant flesh-eating centipedes that had also been smuggled into Switzerland

A rare sighting of young wild otter spotted sleeping next to a path. Wild otters are normally difficult to see, as they tend to appear very early in the morning or late at night and often it's only their distant swimming silhouette that is glimpsed in the dark

Lying stomach-down on Antarctic sea-ice at the edge of a small hole,
a cameraman gets a shock when a killer whale mother and calf explode out of the water in front of his face. 'The only way to get underwater images was to hand-hold a camera on a pole in the icy water, wait and hope. As the orcas came up to breathe they would eye-ball us with curiosity and spray oily breath all over our faces. To be on your stomach precariously perched on the edge of the ice with a killer whale staring down at you was simultaneously terrifying and we-inspiring.' Ross Sea, Antarctica

Shark carcasses, also known in the fishing industry as logs,
lined up at a processing warehouse in Taiwan. The US-based environmental group expressed concern over new photos that seem to show the killing of large numbers of 'biologically vulnerable' sharks by fishermen in Taiwan

Apples grow in the trees of Britain's oldest cider-maker Frank Naish, 87, in his orchard in Glastonbury, England. Naish and his family have made traditional cider in the same location in Somerset for over 200 years. Like many apple growers, Naish, who has been making cider since the 1930s, has had to start his cider harvest earlier than usual because of an unusually warm spring